Insincerely Yours
by Kate Shephard
Summary: While working for Wayne, Kate is forced to sleep around with many men. But the man she wants to sleep with isn't one that she wants to con.
1. Joe's Bar

Yeah, I know. I start too many fics. But I was anxious to do something like this. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

The red dress came to just above her knees, hugging her body in all the right places. It sparkled in the dim lights of the bar as she strolled across the floor, her feet occasionally not cooperating with the heels under them. Be graceful. He'd told her that a million times, but no amount of practice seemed to be able to make her any more graceful in the shoes she was wearing. She stopped at the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools. She smiled politely at the man serving the drinks and then glanced around, shifting a bit on her seat.

The bartender walked over and leaned against the bar, a smile tugging at his thin, pink lips. "Haven't see you in awhile, Mrs. Brennan," he commented. "Life been keeping you busy?"

"You could say that." She turned on the barstool slightly. Leaning forward, she clasped her hands together in front of her on the bar. "So, he been in yet, Joe?" She did a glance around the nearly empty bar then looked back up at the man in front of her again.

"Not yet." Joe reached under the counter and grabbed a glass. "Something strong, I suppose?" he asked, reaching for a drink to pour for her.

"Not yet." She paused a moment, mentally scolding herself for talking so quickly. "Not yet." She smiled slightly at him then glanced toward the door. "I'll get us drunk after I talk to him."

A chuckle escaped him. He tried to muffle it by a cough. When he noticed her glare, he could only smile at her. "I'm sorry. But every night you come in here and you tell me that you're going to talk to this guy, but you never even try to go near him." He grabbed a bottle of something a bit lighter and poured her a glass. He glanced around for someone who might need him then pulled over a seat and sat down in front of her. "If you're thinking he's going to come to you, he's not. He may be giving you all those glances, but he's obviously trying to decide whether or not you'd get in the way of his job. Don't give him a chance to think tonight. Just go up to him and start talking."

With a slight laugh, she picked up her drink and took a sip. Closing her eyes for a moment, she put the glass back on the counter, tapping her fingers on the outside of it for a moment. She looked at him with a lopsided smile and shook her head. "It's not that easy."

"What do you mean it's not that easy? He's going to walk in here and sit three seats down from you. He'll order his drink then glance over at you every five seconds. All you have to do it scoot down a few seats and say hi to him." He pushed his seat back, but leaned forward so he was still close to her. "And here he is right now." He stood and pushed the chair back.

Turning in her seat, she glanced at the man as he walked in through the door. He was dressed in a nice suit and she assumed it was because he had had a meeting at the hospital. The tired look on his face told her it had been a stressful one too. She ran a hand through the mess of brown curls on her head and looked at Joe, forcing a smile at him. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes before she finally got up. She grabbed onto the stool she'd been sitting on to steady herself before grabbing her glass and sliding it along the bar as she walked two seats down. "You look like you could use a drink."

The man looked up and blinked a few times. With a slight smile, he ran his hand over his hair. "That's why I'm here." He nodded to the seat beside him then turned to Joe as a drink was set down in front of him. "Thanks."

"No problem." Joe smiled at him then turned to the young woman beside him and smiled even bigger. He winked at her then walked away a few feet and sat down. He began organizing the bottles under the counter, occasionally looking over at them.

Smiling slightly, she gave a small shake of her head. "Guess that's why we're all here." She ran her finger over the rim of the glass then put her elbow on the table and leaned so it would support her. "Hard day?"

"You could say that." He lifted his small glass, downing it in one swallow. "You come here often?"

"You would know." A smile made it's way onto her lips. Her hand left the glass and she rubbed at the counter with one finger, making a slight squeaking noise. "You act like you don't talk to women very often. I sit down beside you and you don't even know what to say to me."

"I don't talk to women very often." He pushed the glass back and nodded for Joe to fill it up again. "Besides the nurses at the hospital, you're probably the first one I've talked to in months." He watched Joe fill his glass then picked it up, drinking it a bit slower this time and setting the glass down before it was even half gone. "So how about I buy you a drink…" He paused, struggling for a name.

"Kate."

"Kate," he repeated.

She nodded her head slowly. "I came over here to buy you one, but I wouldn't mind the switch." She turned, pushing her glass back slightly and turned to Joe. "Something a bit stronger this time." Despite the fact he didn't seem to be paying attention, she knew he was listening. "Joe."

He lifted his head. "Oh." His surprised voice sounded forced to her. "You were talking to me. Something stronger. Sure." He walked over and filled her glass. "Enjoy." He smirked at her and winked as he walked away again.

Kate tried to ignore him. She lifted the glass and swallowed its contents quickly before putting it down again. "So…" She glanced at the man beside her, reading the nametag on his shirt. "Dr. Shephard. Do you happen to have a first name, Dr. Shephard?"

He raised an eyebrow then glanced down at his shirt. Shaking his head, he pulled off the name tag and shoved it into the pockets of his pants. "Jack."

"Jack." She repeated his name like he had repeated hers. The name seemed to fit him. She smiled at him then pushed her glass back again, motioning Joe back over.

She seemed about as good at keeping up a conversation as he was. It made him relax since he wasn't the only one causing awkwardness. "So you do come here a lot," he stated. "And you look just about as tired as I am." He stared at her face, able to see a bit of the dark circles under her eyes that were covered up with makeup. Even tired, she still looked amazing. He couldn't confine himself to just looking at her face.

"Yeah, well divorces can be pretty tiring." She swirled the liquid in her glass for a moment and just stared at it.

He nodded in response. "I guess they can." He let Joe fill his drink again. He glanced at it then watched her as she swirled her own drink around. "I take it he must have been an ass to divorce someone like you."

"Actually, he was amazing." She glanced up from her drink. "He just wasn't happy." She forced a smile then looked down and went back to swirling her drink around. "But he is now. He has a fiancée that's perfect for him."

"Did he break it off with you to be with her?" Jack questioned. He took a sip of his drink as he stared at her, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"No." Kate shook her head. "No. He would never do that. I knew he wasn't happy. I knew he deserved to be happy and I wanted him to be happy. So I was the one to break it off." She nearly laughed at the surprised look on his face. "Yeah, I know. Stupid, huh? Give up the perfect man and let him run off with some other woman."

"I wouldn't say stupid." He looked away from her, focusing his eyes on the floor for several moments. "Do you two still keep in touch?"

"What? Yeah. We're still the best friends we always were since high school." She nodded her head.

"I bet his fiancée isn't very fond of that."

"Oh, she's not. She's warned him several times about even looking at me." Kate rubbed her forehead. "She thinks I'm going to butt in and ruin her perfect little family." The word family tasted bitter and she took a drink from the glass that she'd been moving around. "So yeah." She put the glass down and got to her feet. "I should probably get going. It was nice meeting you, Jack."

"You have to go so soon?" He got to his feet, frowning slightly. "We really haven't even been here that long."

"Yeah, well…" She looked away from him, shaking her head slightly. "I probably shouldn't sit around spilling out all my sob stories to you."

"Misery loves company."

She laughed. "How about we both come back tomorrow," she suggested. "Then we can both spill sob stories to each other and drink until we can't feel any of the pain."

"Sounds like a date." Jack grew immediately tense at his words. "Well not a date, I mean unless you meant it to be one…but if you didn't then definitely not a date." He shook his head.

"Sounds like a date," she repeated, tilting her head to the side. She smiled at him then opened her purse and pulled out some money, tossing it onto the counter. She glanced over at Joe. "Thanks Joe."

"No problem." Joe smiled and got up, taking the money.

Kate turned back to Jack. "I'll see you tomorrow then, huh?" A goofy smile spread across her lips and part of her actually looked forward to seeing him again.

"Wouldn't miss coming for the world." Jack dug his hands into his pocket and pulled out some money. He tossed it onto the counter then turned back to Kate. "How about I walk you to your car?"

"Thanks." She took a few steps toward the door then stepped wrong and twisted her ankle. She swore under her breath, grabbing onto a nearby chair as she lifted her foot up off the ground. She swore once more, closing her eyes.

He was by her side almost immediately. Helping support her, he pulled out the chair she was holding onto and motioned for her to take a seat. "You alright?"

Slowly, she lowered herself down onto the chair. Slipping her shoe off, the pain in her ankle eased slightly but not much. It was red and already beginning to swell. Despite the fact that she could handle the pain, tears stung her eyes and she clenched her jaw. Maybe there was one good thing about wearing heels. She shook her head in answer to his question.

It didn't take long after she shook her head for him to kneel down. He looked at her ankle, gently touching it. He glanced up at her when he heard her suck in a breath. "I take it that hurts."

"No, it tickles." Sarcasm mixed in with the pain in her voice. "Yes, it hurts. So stop touching it."

He ignored her sarcasm and anger. "Well I don't think it's even sprained," he told her. "But I can take you back to my house and check it out, if you want. I can wrap it and get you a good icepack for it. Sound alright?"

"Yeah. I can't drive like this anyway." She waited until he got to his feet then let him help her up. She lid her other shoe off then bent down and picked them both up off the ground. Using him for support, she let him lead her to the door and out to his car, half limping, half hopping. The niceness of his car didn't surprise her. It was expensive and looked pretty new. Not wanting to touch it and get her fingerprints all over it, she let him open the door for her then climbed inside. "Thanks." He shut the door and she reached down, rubbing her ankle a bit.

After going around to the other side, Jack got in then shut his door. He pulled his keys from his pocket and pushed them into the ignition then started the car. He glanced over at Kate before pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road. "I don't live very far away. Maybe ten minutes."

"Alright."

* * *

The sun had set and dark shadows were cast onto the large house and the empty driveway. To her the place looked lonely, not something that just one person should be living in. The porch light hadn't been left on and it made it hard to see just where the sidewalk started and led to. She opened her door after he parked the car and slowly got out of the car. She put a slight bit of weight onto her hurt ankle, not bothering to flinch at the pain. He wasn't watching. She shut the door behind her and leaned against the car, waiting for him to come and lead her to the front door. And he did.

It wasn't the first time he got home after dark and it definitely wouldn't be the last. By now he could walk from his car to his door by memory. No rock nor stone nor hole went unknown by him. Walking around the side, he met her by the door and put his hand on her arm. He supported her as much as she needed him to as he led her to the door. It wasn't locked and he just turned the handle and opened it, motioning for her to go inside.

The fact that he didn't use a key to open the door surprised her. When she thought of big houses, she thought of locks all over the place. She carefully made her way in, reaching along the wall and flipping the light switch. Light flooded across the floor of a hallway with a wooden floor and white walls. She stepped inside a bit more, glancing around at a few pictures that hung on the walls. "I guess that was your wife, huh?" she mumbled, looking at the woman who seemed to be in every picture with Jack. The look on the woman's face, the smile that she wore, was a familiar one. The same on that Tom used to force.

The door was pushed shut behind him and he nodded slightly, glancing at the pictures. "Haven't really gotten around to taking them down yet. I'll show you to the living room then get you some ice." There was a large living room off to the right and that was where he led her, making sure that she was following him. "You can sit down. Make yourself comfortable."

The house was big, but it wasn't hard to be comfortable in. "I really appreciate this." She made her way over to the couch and took a seat. Setting her shoes on the ground, she propped her foot up on the couch.

"It's not problem." Truthfully, he was glad to finally have some company. Coming home to an empty house was beginning to make him wish he didn't even have to come home anymore. He left the living room and walked into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator. He opened the freezer and pulled out an icepack then carried it back into the living room. "Here." He put it gently on her ankle. He smiled at her. "Are you hungry or anything?"

"Not really." She shook her head. She shifted slightly, relaxing back against the couch. "You have movies over there," she stated, motioning to a basket of movies under his TV stand. "We should watch one until I can move my ankle again.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the movie was over. She yawned then slowly sat up on the couch, lifting the icepack up and putting it on the coffee table. She rubbed her eyes then glanced over at Jack. "Could you take me back to the bar now?" she asked. "I think I'm gonna get my car then head home."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, sitting up straighter on the chair. "I mean, you could stay here if you want to. I have a guest bedroom."

"Nah." Shaking her head, she turned on the couch and bent over, picking up her shoes. Not about to put them back on, she got to her feet and smoothed down her dress. "I just want to get home to my own bed. I can walk if you don't want to drive me."

"No. No, I'll drive you." He shook his head at the thought of her ready to just walk home. He slid his shoes on as he stood up, bending over and tying them real quick before heading to the door. "I guess it doesn't matter if you go, considering I'm going to see you tomorrow anyway."

With a smile, she followed him to the door and out to his car. He opened the door for her and she got in, putting her shoes on her lap. "I'm capable of opening doors, you know. I hurt my ankle, not my hands."

"I know." He shut her door for her then went around to the other side and also got in. He shoved the key back into the ignition and started the car back up then headed toward the bar. Both of them being rather tired, the trip seemed short and completely silent. He slowed down as they got close to the bar, hating that he was going to have to return home alone again. They finally got there and there was nothing else he could do to slow them down. "You have a good night," he told her, stopping by the door, unsure of where her car was. "And be careful driving home."

"I will." After a moments pause, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. Before he could respond, she climbed out of the car and walked toward her own, glancing back once to watch his car leave. Her car seemed nowhere as nice as his. It was dirty and the paint was peeling. She yanked open the door, cringing at the squeaking noise it made in protest to being opened. Mumbling under her breath, she sat down inside and tossed her shoes onto the passenger's seat. She shut the door then fumbled through her purse for her keys. After finding them, she started the car and made her way out of the parking lot and toward where she planned on staying.

It didn't take long. God forbid he live more than five minutes away from his favorite place. She pulled into the driveway, cursing as she nearly hit his car. God forbid he also park straight. She turned the car off then got out, leaving the keys inside and only taking her purse. Shutting the door, she glanced at the dark street. "Someone please come steal this thing." Shaking her head, she turned and walked up the stairs on the porch of the trailer. Trying to door handle, she cursed when it didn't budge. "Damn it, Sawyer." She pried opened her purse again and searched for the house keys, taking what seemed like forever to her to find them.

After trying to make them fit in the lock, the door finally opened and she stepped inside. Shutting the door behind her, she tossed her stuff on the floor then headed back to the bedroom, pulling her dress up over her head as she went. The room was cold, but she was too tired to care. "Thanks for locking the door," she muttered as she moved to the empty side of the bed. "Real nice of you." Rolling her eyes when her voice didn't even wake him, she curled up under the blankets on the bed and closed her eyes.

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Please review. Reviews make me update!


	2. Well, You're Not DropDead Gorgeous

Sorry that it took so long and that it's so short! School ate my brain. But we're out for the summer, so I should have some time to write. I do plan on eventually updating Fated Deception, but school also ate my muse. Please review! Reviews really do make me update faster. This chapter isn't that great, but I'm still recovering from exams and I have a cold. Reviews make me feel better too?

Oh and…I don't own LOST.

I have a really awesome Jex scene planned for this fic, btw. -grin-

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"Katherine, why can't you just do what the hell you're told to?"

Kate leaned back against the couch, staring at the clock as she listened to her mother's harsh whispers. "Because I like this guy, Ma," she snapped, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. "Why does he have to know everyone I date, huh? He's not even my father! And I think twenty-four is old enough to be able to date without having to inform him. It's all about sex and money. You promised me that eventually this would end. When am I going to get a normal life, huh?"

"You owe him this, Katherine."

"I owe him this? I don't owe him a damn thing! After all the times he's hit us, all the times…" The young woman came to an abrupt stop and a hand came across her cheek. She narrowed her eyes at Diane and took a slight step back, moving her hand to touch the spot that had just been hit.

"Don't you dare," Diane warned her, shaking her head. "Just be happy that you're alive."

"What? Is he going to kill me if I don't do what he says? He'll kill me just like he did Luke, huh?" Kate rubbed her cheek for a few moments, glad that it didn't hurt enough to make her think there'd be anything more than a temporary red mark.

"Katherine! Stop talking about him like that! And don't even think about bringing your brother into this…He ran away and you know it." Tears stung the older woman's eyes as spoke.

"Sure, he did, Ma." After reaching into her pocket, she tossed a wad of cash onto the torn up couch. "It's all I got from James. He's pretty damn good at hiding his money and got even better after he figured out someone was stealing from him. But I meant the requirement." Sniffling, Kate headed for the door of the rundown house, desperate to get out of there and just get to the bar to meet with Jack.

"He says you go two weeks, Kate!" Diane called after her.

"Course he does." The door slammed behind her and she walked silently down the stairs to her car.

* * *

"You sure that no one hit you?" Boone took a seat on the stool beside her, putting his drink down on the bar. "Cause it sure does look like a hand mark."

"No one hit me okay."

He watched her stare at the door and took note of the far away tone in her voice. "He's only five minutes late, Kate. Hey…last week I was twenty minutes late getting here and you weren't that worried."

"That's because I have your phone number. And I can just come to your house and kidnap you." Kate tapped her nails on the bar, ignoring him as his cringing at the sound of her nails on the wood.

The door opened and Kate sat up straight. When Shannon walked in, she sunk down in disappointment, putting her elbow on the bar and resting her head against her hand. "Where's Sayid at?"

"Business trip or something," Boone replied, watching his sister walk across the room to talk to a few girls sitting at a table. "She decided to stay because she wants to be here when Claire has the baby." Grinning, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Just think, Kate. In a few days, you'll be a god-mother."

Kate forced a smile. If anything ever happened to Claire and Charlie, she would raise them from the dead and then rekill them. There was no way that she would ever make a good mom, but when Claire asked…well, it would have been too hard to say no. "Ooh! He's here," she whispered, turning and trying to shush Boone away.

Chuckling, Boone glanced at the door as Jack entered. He grabbed his drink and his a slight twinge of jealousy. "I'll be over there with Shannon if you need me."

"Yeah, yeah." Kate glanced at him as he walked away then waved slightly so Jack would see her. The goofy grin that spread over his lips when he saw her sent tingles up her spine. She gave a lopsided grin back as he walked over and took a seat where Boone had been sitting. "I thought you weren't going to show," she admitted.

"Not show?" Jack replied. "I'd never stand a girl up. One of the surgeries I was doing on a little girl just took a bit longer than we expected it to. I would have called, but I don't have your number…and I'm not that late."

She felt stupid for having expected him not to come. He definitely seemed like a great guy from the little she knew about him. "Did it go well?" she asked. "The surgery?"

"Yeah. It went great. Even better than I expected it to." He turned slightly and waited for Joe to be done talking to someone before nodding at him. "The usual?"

"Sure think," the bartender replied. "And you, Mrs. Brennan?"

"I think asking you to call me Kate. But the usual, please." She smiled at him.

Joe smiled back at her but said nothing. He turned and got them their drinks then put them on the bar. "I'll just be over there…not eavesdropping." He winked at her then turned and went to tend to someone else.

Jack picked up his drink and took a sip. "Think if he talk about him, he'll know?"

"Probably." Kate laughed and also sipped on her drink, watching Jack carefully.

"So, do you always stare at guys until they talk to you?" He asked.

Kate blinked a few times, taken by surprise. "What?"

"You've stared at me with that exact same expression ever since I've started coming to this bar."

"Well you didn't come talk to me, so no."

"I didn't know why you were staring." Jack chuckled "You could have been staring because I was the ugliest man you'd ever seen. I could have went over to talk to you and you could have been disgusted."

"Well, you're definitely not ugly." Kate paused for half a second. "Not that I think you're drop-dead gorgeous either. Well…you are really handsome. But…"

"You're not bad looking yourself," Jack cut her off, smiling more as her cheeks turned red. He took another small sip of his drink. "You're still staring."

Kate quickly looked away. She looked toward the door just as it opened.

"Hey! Freckles!"

The voice was angry and Kate quickly stood. "Fuck."


	3. Dr McDreamy

"Excuse me, but the girl and I need to have a little chit-chat." Sawyer grabbed Kate by the arm, half dragging her off the stool she was sitting on.

Jack practically leapt to his feet. "What do you think you're doing?"

This was already the worst date Kate could ever imagine having. "Jack, it's okay," she assured him before shooting Sawyer a glare. "I know him. I'll be right back." She fought Sawyer for control, the two of them pulling each other away from Jack and to the other side of the bar.

"Where's my money?" The southerner spat, narrowing his eyes at her. "Ain't no one else been comin' in my house but you and I wanna know where my damn money's been getting to."

"I don't know what you're talking about, James." Her voice was a low, harsh whisper. He was holding her arm and she yanked it away from his grip. "I don't have any of your money."

"Well you better tell me who the hell does have it."

"I don't know." Kate crossed her arms tightly across her chest.

"Fine. For now, I'm gonna pretend you don't know you took my money. We'll change the subject and you'll tell me why you're here with Dr. McDreamy over there."

Kate let out a breath and glanced over at Jack. "You're nicknames are a little off, Sawyer," she said sarcastically. "He doesn't have the hair to be Dr. McDreamy. And we agreed we had an open relationship. You think I don't know about all those girls you've been with lately?"

"You sleeping with him?" Sawyer asked.

Kate paused then smirked. "Yes," she replied, set on pissing him off. Maybe then he'd leave. "I'm having sex with him. Amazing sex with him. Better sex than I've ever had with you. And more of it. He's so much bigger than you could ever hope to…" She was cut off by Sawyer slamming her back against a chair.

"Hey!" Jack rose from his seat, marching over. "Get your hands off her."

Boone and Shannon watched from their seats. It was impossible to tell who threw the first punch, but it attracted Boone's attention. He was over there in a second, trying to break up the fight between the two men. Instead of breaking it, he suddenly became involved.

"You think I need to call someone?" Joe's eyes widened and he looked over at Shannon, who was smiling and just sipping on a drink. Jack, Sawyer, and Boone were fighting though it looked like they had no idea who was even against who anymore. Kate was yelling profanities at all three of them, occasionally working in a punch or kick to try and break them up.

"Nah," Shannon replied. "Give it half a minute and Kate'll get in there and kick all of their asses."


	4. Doesn't Get Much Worse

Here ya go. A birthday update from me. ^-^

* * *

"You okay?" Boone sat down on the edge of his bed and glanced at the clock. It was late and he had work in the morning. After pulling his shirt up over his head, he propped up a few pillows behind him and leaned back against them.

"That was the worst date of my life." Kate's voice was muffled by her arm, which was draped across her face. "Sawyer won't let me back in. Jack is probably never going to even glance at me ever again." She rolled over and sighed dramatically, wrapping her arms around a pillow. "And I miss Tom. I wouldn't have to be out here dating if I was still married."

"No one says you have to be dating." Boone raised his eyebrows. "You do just fine single. You have some source of income. You can always stay here if you need a place to live. Guys can be asses anyway. I would know." He smirked and nudged her arm.

Lifting her head, Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not helping at all."

'Sorry." His smirk faded. "I don't know what to say. I've never had to deal with guy problems like the ones you have. I'm getting the hint that I don't even know the half of it." He moved up beside her, placing gentle kisses on her bare shoulder.

"You don't," Kate replied. She flipped over onto her back, glancing up at him. "I don't understand how you can go out with guys then come home and sleep with me." She shook her head slightly.

"You're gorgeous, Kate," he replied. "You're pretty and smart and have a great personality." He laughed when she rolled her eyes. "It's true. If you ever stopped this dating thing and decided you wanted to be with me forever, I'd get rid of all those guys I see for you."

"You're so charming," Kate said sarcastically though with a laugh.

"I'm about to be less charming in a second," Boone replied. He kissed her lightly on the lips then lied beside her, propping his head up on his arm. "Sawyer accused you of stealing his money. Have you been taking mine too?"

Kate looked at him, then slowly sat up. "I haven't taken anyone's money. Are you accusing me of stealing from you?"

"It's just a question," Boone defended, also sitting up. "Some of it has been going missing lately. And with Sawyer tonight and stuff…"

Kate got to her feet. Having been keeping some outfits at his house, she grabbed some clothes and slid them on. Ignoring whatever pleas or apologies he was throwing at her, she stormed out of the room and shoved passed Shannon, leaving his house.

Once she got outside, she realized she had nowhere else to go anymore. Well, there was one place. Groaning, she ran her fingers through her hair and walked her way toward Wayne and Diane's house. The night was cloudy and dark and most of the streetlights were flickering from lack of the town caring about changing the bulbs. Fortunately, she enjoyed the nightlife. Not that there was really ever much life around. Good life anyway.

"Hey," A voice whispered from beside on the houses. "What you doin' out, Beautiful?"

Kate shook her head. Leave it to the wastes of breath to be out. "Go to hell," she snapped, picking up speed a bit.

"No need to get an attitude." The man pulled out a cigarette he had been holding against the wall of the building then tossed it on the ground. He stepped out under one of the street lights and shoved a hand in his pocket. "You got any money, Sweetheart?"

Kate glanced back at him, taking in his scruffy appearance. "Why? You need to buy a bar of soap and perhaps a razor?" Almost home. She took a few more steps, but a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. She looked him in the eye. "I don't have any money."

He pulled out a knife.

"I don't have any money!" She glanced at the knife, not quite afraid of it. She had faced worse than some dull knife in her lifetime.

"Shut up!" He slammed her back against a wooden phone pole. Shoving the knife through her shirt sleeve, it cut the side of her arm as it pinned her against the wood.

"You're not going to find anything." Blood was beginning to soak her shirt and run down her arm. The man's hands roamed her body uncomfortably as he searched her pockets for cash. She had no money on her. Her arm was beginning to sting and when the man didn't find what he was looking for, his hands began to search under her clothes for other things. Kate kicked him in the shin.

"Don't you know how to act when someone is assaulting you on an empty street?!" The man looked shocked by her boldness. He yanked her away from the pole, ripping her shirt sleeve away from the knife. Car lights appeared in the distance. Damn it. He shoved her down against a mailbox with all his strength then took off.

Kate had a feeling her head hit the metal of the mailbox and she blacked out, because when she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by white.

"Hey? Can you hear me?"

The voice sounded familiar. Kate glanced to the side to see Jack hovering above her. "God, this night can't get any worse, can it?"


End file.
